


December 19th: Hope

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: M/M, Recovered_ProfilersForChristmas2017, Secrets, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-09 05:44:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12881403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Hope it was something Aaron had little of but then a black dog rush into his apartment. Who knew that dog brought hope with him?





	December 19th: Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [FA_ProfilersForChristmas2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FA_ProfilersForChristmas2017) collection. 



Aaron frowned because it was Christmas and this year Jack had two wishes and Aaron couldn't do either one of them. Jack wanted his mom back and a puppy. There was no way that wish number one was ever going to happen. Haley was dead, and it wasn't Aaron's fault. There was a lot of therapy involved in Aaron being able to say that and mean it. It was no more his fault than if a drunk driver had hit them and Haley died. Foyet had made that choice and Aaron had been unable to stop it.

There were plenty of presents under the tree, but none of them were things that Jack had asked for. Aaron wasn't going to make Jessica take care of a dog as well as Jack when Aaron was out of town. Especially not a dog that would have to live in an apartment. So Aaron was sitting with a drink in his hand and contemplating what the rise of the sun was going to bring. It was already two a.m., and Aaron had been unable to sleep.

There was a scratch at Aaron's door, and he frowned. Aaron looked at his glass of bourbon in his hand. He had only taken a few sips and hadn't filled it up a second time. It had to have been a noise from the apartment next to him. He raised up the tumbler to take another drink when he heard it again. Aaron wondered if someone had spiked his tea with something when he hadn't been looking.

Aaron stood up and moved to his door. He looked out the peephole and saw nothing but the scratching noise happened again at feet level. Aaron looked down expecting to see something, but his door was flush with the carpet. There was no seeing anything. Aaron disabled his alarm and left the chain on before he opened the door. Aaron looked down to see a black mass wiggle between the door and the door jamb, and it raced inside. Aaron shut the door and turned on the alarm out of habit as whatever had just made it into his apartment went right to the back of the house.

It wasn't hard to recognize the sound of nails on linoleum and Aaron went right for the guest bathroom that was Jack's main bathroom. Huddled and shivering in the corner where wall and bathtub met was a black greyhound dog. Aaron took a step forward, and the dog freaked out, trying to push itself back into the tub a little harder but decided to give Aaron a view of it's back before going up and over and into the bathtub. However, as it did, it left a trail of red along the lip of the tub and along the back as it tried to get itself to safety. Aaron pulled the bathroom door shut so that the dog couldn't escape and he went to his bedroom to change. Aaron hadn't changed out of his work clothes and staying in a suit while caring for an injured dog was not going to end well for the suit.

Aaron was opening the door again and saw that the dog hadn't moved at all. Aaron grabbed a few towels and a few rags before he got to his knees and peered around the curtain. The dog was looking at Aaron with intelligent eyes. Too intelligent eyes. Aaron frowned as he took in the spot of black on the dog's coat that looked shiny. There were small cuts all over the dog's coat. Aaron reached up to turn on the water, and the dog just stared at him. Aaron made sure to turn the water onto a warm setting so that it wouldn't hurt as much. Aaron moved slowly as he dipped the rag into the water and started to drip it over the dog's head. The dog closed its eyes and just sat there as Aaron got it's coat all the way wet. The dog moved, and Aaron figured out that it was a boy.

"You are a pretty boy aren't you?" Aaron asked as he grabbed the Johnson's baby soap that Aaron still liked to buy for Jack to use on his hair. The dog chuffed at the name and Aaron swore that he was being glared at. "I'll have you know that one of my best friend's gets called Pretty Boy all the time and he doesn't make as much noise as you about it."

Aaron coaxed the dog out of the back of the tub and close to the water so that Aaron could wash out his coat. Aaron realized quickly though that the reason that the skin was still bleeding in some spots was because there was still glass in the wounds.

Someone had thrown glass at the dog.

"You poor thing."

Aaron found a pair of tweezers in the cabinet behind the mirror and used those to pick out the glass pieces. When Aaron tipped the dog's head up to wash the soap off of his neck and top of his head, Aaron was greeted with a tongue licking up his arm.

"You don't have a collar, so where did you come from?" Aaron made sure that there was no glass left in the dog's coat.

"YOU FOUND HIM!" Jack exclaimed. Aaron barely had time to turn to look at his son when Jack was trying to climb into the tub with the dog. The dog barked at Jack, almost like a greeting.

"I found who, Jack?" Aaron asked. He knew that he was screwed because Jack wasn't going to want to get rid of the dog. If the dog belonged to someone else, Aaron would have to find another dog just like him for Jack to have.

"He came to visit me when I was with Mommy. He would watch us throughout the day on the weekends and sometimes throughout the week and sleep with me at night. He left a few days before Mommy brought us home. It was the longest that he had ever stayed with us. There was one time that he came for a visit for just a few hours."

"And your Mom let him stay?"

"He always showed up in the house. After the third time, mommy stopped trying to throw him out." Jack grabbed the towel that Aaron had stacked on the toilet seat and patted his hand on his leg. The dog crawled out of the tub gingerly.

"How did he get here?"

"He missed me," Jack said as he started to towel the dog off. Jack frowned when parts of the towel came away bloody. "Is he hurt?"

"Yes. I'll put some antibiotic on his wounds after we get them dry."

"He's going to sleep with me. We need to get that sheet that you and mommy used to put on your beds when I was learning how to use the bathroom.”

"Jack, I am not sure that it's a good idea to have him sleep in your bed tonight. Not with him being hurt. Dogs don't react like humans if you hurt them. He could bite you and not realize it. We will get him dry, and he can sleep on the floor at the end of your bed."

Jack pouted, but he nodded before he yawned.

"Why were you up?"

"I need to pee."

"Go to my bathroom and pee and then we can see if the dog wants to sleep in your room."

Aaron watched his son run away from him to make it to the bathroom. Aaron looked down at the dog and saw that he was being stared at. The dog's eyes were brighter now that the pain of the glass in his skin was gone and Aaron looked the dog up and down. His back leg was scarred up, and it looked neat like he had surgery on it. Aaron frowned at the dog. He had seen a scar just like that on a human just weeks before after helping Reid take care of his shredded pants after an accident on a case. Aaron thought about how ridiculous it was because there was no way that the dog was Reid. However, the tales that he heard about shapeshifters was too much to ignore.

However, Reid going to where Haley and Jack were in hiding was near imposible. Aaron had never asked where they had been hidden. If Reid was a shapeshifter and had caught their scent while on a case and had gone back up to visit them and check on them. Foyet wouldn't have been following Reid.

Aaron grabbed the dog's chin and made him look at Aaron. "Reid?"

The look of fear that passed over those eyes told Aaron that he was right. The dog tried to get away, but Aaron held firm. After nearly two minutes, Reid calmed down.

"After Jack's asleep, you will come to the living room to talk to me about this. I'll leave a robe out on my bed for you to wear. If you don't come out in a reasonable time, I will pick you up and carry you, and you can change in front of me."

Aaron let go of Reid's chin, and he nodded just as Jack entered the bathroom again. He had a blanket in his hand, and Aaron watched as he coaxed Reid to follow him. Aaron wondered what in the hell was going on in his life that he was accepting that Reid was a shapeshifter.

An hour later, Aaron was just about to go after Reid when he heard Reid clear his throat. He was not in the robe though.

"The shift back reopened several cuts, and I don't want to get blood all over your robe. Do you have a new tube of superglue? I can close them with that, and it'll be better as it survives the shifts better." Reid was leaning around the corner his upper body very visible, and Aaron could see several bleeding cuts.

"Grab a pair of underwear from my bedroom and put them on. I'll help you with your cuts." Aaron stood up and looked at the alcohol in his untouched glass. He grabbed it and walked to the kitchen to grab the super glue from the basket on top of the fridge. When Aaron entered the bathroom, Reid is sitting on the lid of the toilet, and he was flushed red in embarrassment.

"They were in Hagerstown, Maryland. You sent me there to help with a profile of someone who was hunting for sport and leaving the animal bodies in the town square. We were afraid that the UnSub would go after humans next. I caught Jack's scent when I was near the police station. I was doing a walk around when I saw Jack playing at a park. I went back between cases when I could and watched them. I had made a big deal about there being so much there in Hagerstown that I wanted to see when I was in public with team just in case Foyet was watching. I'm kind of glad that you didn't send the whole team with me." Reid didn't stop as Aaron cleaned the wounds on his back and sealed them. He hissed on occasion but didn't outright stop. When Aaron was done with his back, Aaron pushed Reid into the tank of the toilet to get to his chest. Reid tried to take the wet rag from Aaron, but Aaron smacked his hand. Reid huffed but let Aaron do what he wanted. "I would have smelled Foyet if he had got near the town. I usually did a perimeter around the town before I made my way to their house."

"You picked their locks and went inside."

"Haley never set the alarm and only set the lock half of the time. I always shifted to human form and locked it if I found it unlocked."

"She never did lock the door half of the time before she had Foyet after her." Aaron looked for more wounds that looked open or starting to become open but found none. "What happened tonight?"

"I was running around the park I usually do, and I guess I came across a group of drunk college kids or high school kids, I didn't stick around after they cornered me and threw all of their beer bottles at me. I freaked out, and before I knew it, I was at your place. I don't know why." Reid looked away as he said the last bits. Aaron looked at him. Aaron knew the tell however it was a tell that Reid knew that he had and he only used it when he wanted them to know that he was lying.

Aaron had a feeling that he knew why Reid was lying to Aaron and maybe even himself a little bit. Aaron remembered what Reid had uttered when he had been waking up the first time from his Anthrax exposure. There was a reason that Aaron had left the room and left Morgan there to deal with Reid once he had woken up.

"You feel safe here, or at least with me."

Reid looked up at Aaron with a shocked look on his face. Reid swallowed hard and looked away. Aaron reached out and cupped his chin, turning Reid's face back to him.

"What did you wish for this year for Christmas?" Aaron asked.

"What I wish for every year, to make my job not needed anymore."

"Not something for yourself?" Aaron asked.

"No, because it's never come true. Mom didn't get better, and Dad didn't come back. Bullies didn't leave me alone. I figured if I wasn't going to get what I wanted I might as well go big."

"If you were going to ask for what you wanted, what would it be?" Aaron crouched down and leaned in. Reid's lips parted in an exhale, and Aaron knew that Reid wanted to take. "Take what you want."

Reid leaned in and pressed his lips to Aaron's. The kiss was chaste and quick.

"How did you know?" Reid asked.

"You told me when you were coming out of your sleep after getting the antidote to Anthrax. I left to go over everything with the military and by the time that I got my mind straightened out with it and you almost dying, we were in Canada."

"Oh."

"I've not been anywhere near ready to start anything with anyone while I was trying to find Foyet and then again after dealing with Haley's death. I don't know if I am fully ready for anything more than slightly more intimate friends."

"I don't mind that."

"Do you heal better in human or in...dog form?"

"Dog."

"And you always lose your clothes when you shift?"

"Yes."

"I have clothes that will fit you when we get up in about four or five hours. Why don't you go and sleep in Jack's room? Since it's you are not a stray, you can sleep in bed with him."

"I was anyway. Jack cuddles like a bear. I can leave after he wakes up."

"It's Christmas. Jack's not going to let you leave to an empty apartment on Christmas. You are more than welcome to stay here the day. Jack's going to Jessica's late tonight and doing Christmas with his grandparents tomorrow. It'll give us a chance to talk. We can make a run after breakfast to your place for your clothes and the present you said you were going to drop off for Jack tomorrow morning for him to open when he got back."

"I don't want to intrude on your first Christmas with Jack."

"Jack wanted two things for Christmas, Haley and a dog. Now I know that you are not actually a dog, but for now, we can see how he does. We might be making a run to a shelter after Christmas."

"He's going to know that it's me when Soot disappears and I appear."

"Soot?"

"I was just glad I wasn't Fido," Reid said with a smile. He leaned in again and pressed a chaste kiss to Aaron's lips. Aaron shifted his hand from cupping his chin to cupping the side of Reid's face.

"Soot does fit you in that form."

"I hated it as a teenager. Thankfully, I was on the CalTech campus the first time that I changed."

"We can talk about that later. I want to try and get some sleep in, and you need some to start healing up. Are you hungry? Do you need a snack?"

"Yes."

"Good. I have cookies for Santa that I am in no shape to eat." Aaron smiled and grabbed the robe from where he had hung it over the door. He held it up, and Reid stood up and allowed Aaron to put it on him. Aaron wrapped it around his thin body, understanding now why Reid was so thin despite his eating habits. Even with Aaron's understanding of the transfer of energy, Reid probably burned a lot of his calories in shifting.

"I like cookies," Reid said.

"I know that you do." Aaron smiled and held out his hand. Reid hesitantly put his hand in Aaron's. Aaron pulled him along as they made their way to the living room. Aaron settled Reid onto the couch and grabbed the plate of cookies on the stand by the tree. Reid grabbed a tree-shaped one and took a big bite.

"I think this could be a lot better Christmas than I thought it was going to be." Aaron smiled at Reid as he said it and the smile that Reid gave him back gave Aaron hope, the first he had in a long while.  
**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
> Someone is keeping a secret from the others. This is not a love secret, or a pining secret, no. It's a secret they have kept to themselves for a longtime, afraid of what would happen if it got out. Christmas is a time to reveal secrets, especially with the love of family around them. 
> 
> (I'd like it to be some kind of power, maybe X-Men like, or they are a shape-shifter, something different or unusual perhaps.)


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